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West Virginia Wesleyan Stats -
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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team puts a seven-game winning streak on the line when it concludes a three-game homestand against West Virginia Wesleyan 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live statistics and live video of Wednesday's game.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
ATHENS ELEMENTARY NOTE
All students from Athens Elementary will be admitted to the game for free Wednesday night.Â
SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 38-36
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN
January 10, 2024: Concord 80 - West Virginia Wesleyan 69 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
February 15, 2023: Concord 82 - West Virginia Wesleyan 60 (Athens, W.Va.)
January 11, 2023: Concord 78 - West Virginia Wesleyan 64 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
February 16, 2022: Concord 88 - West Virginia Wesleyan 80 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
January 12, 2022: Concord 76 - West Virginia Wesleyan 59 (Athens, W.Va.)
A VARIETY OF WAYS
During Concord's seven-game winning streak, the Mountain Lions have found a multitude of ways to be the victor on the scoreboard. CU has scored 80 points in five of the seven games, including topping 100 points twice, but has also been held under 70 points twice. In Monday's non-conference win over Virginia Union, 63-60, the Maroon and Gray scored its second-lowest point total of the season—CU netted 61 points in a four-point win over IUP to open the season. Monday marked the fourth time this winter that Concord held a team to 65 or fewer points. Not only does Concord own the longest active winning streak in the MEC, but the seven straight wins are tied for the sixth longest active streak in Division II. Â
PLAYING BIG
Though he's only fifth on the team in scoring at 8.9 points per game, sophomore forward
Rene Diop has been coming up big for the Mountain Lions as of late. The Dakar, Senegal native recorded 15 points—the third highest of his career—in CU's win Monday. He shot 7-for-9 from the floor, grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and blocked three shots. Diop has scored in double figures in five of the last seven games, and over that stretch he is shooting 66.7 percent (34-for-51). With three blocks Monday, it marked the eighth time this year that Diop has recorded at least three blocks in a game. Diop's breakout last season as a freshman came against West Virginia Wesleyan when he scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a February home win over the Bobcats.
SUCCESSFUL FOUL SHOOTING
Sophomore guard
Kollin Tolbert has been a vital part of Concord's seven-game winning streak as he has netted 15 or more points in four of those wins. And a lot of the scoring for Tolbert has come at the foul line. The reigning MEC Player of the Week is shooting 92.1 percent (47-of-51) from the charity stripe over the last seven games. Furthermore, he has not missed multiple foul shots in the same game since he was 9-of-12 against Davis & Elkins on January 13. With his recent run at the foul line, Tolbert is now fourth in the MEC in free-throw shooting (84.7 percent). And his 100 made free throws are tied for the league lead with West Virginia State's Anthony Pittman. Tolbert was a perfect 8-of-8 at the free-throw stripe Monday and has made 29 of his last 30 attempts.
SUPPLEMENTAL SCORING
The Mountain Lions picked up an 80-69 win at West Virginia Wesleyan on January 10 in a game where CU only trailed once, 7-6, in the early going. In just one of two instances this year, no Concord player scored 15 or more points—the other at Salem—in the win at West Virginia Wesleyan. Junior forward
Amare Smith came off the bench with 14 points in 22 minutes. Junior guard
Corey Boston added 12 points as the duo combined for 26 of Concord's 39 bench points in the win. The only other Mountain Lion to net double figures at WVWC was senior guard
JJ Harper with 10 points. The 39 points by the reserves were the third most in a game this season.
THE START OF SOMETHING
At West Virginia Wesleyan, CU shot 43.8 percent from the floor, and since the contest at the Rockefeller Center, the Mountain Lions have shot 43 percent or better in nine of 11 games, including hitting 47 percent or better six times. Through the first nine games of the year, Concord shot 43 percent or better just four times. Fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler has scored in double figures in five of the last seven games and is shooting 53.9 percent (34-for-59) during the winning streak. Since a four-point game against West Liberty, senior guard
Jordan Wooden has picked up the scoring pace by averaging 11.5 points per game. And Harper is netting 12.5 points per game since the West Virginia Wesleyan contest—11 games ago.
KEEP IT GOING
The Mountain Lions start play Wednesday night with the longest active win streak in the MEC of seven games. It is the longest winning streak since the 2015-16 team won their first seven games of that particular year. The last Concord team to win eight consecutive games was the 1997-98 team who ripped off eight straight victories after an 0-2 start to the campaign. CU also enters play Wednesday night riding an eight-game winning streak over West Virginia Wesleyan that dates back to WVWC's overtime win over the Mountain Lions in January 2020. Six of the eight wins have come by double digits, including 82-60 at home last season. CU busted out for 52 points in the second half of last year's win after the game was tied 30-30 at halftime. Harper had 18 points while Diop had his first career double-double. Laidler went for 12 points and nine rebounds.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1- Concord held Virginia Union to one made three-pointer Monday, the fewest allowed by CU since November 2018 versus Pitt-Johnstown.
3- The Mountain Lions limited West Virginia Wesleyan to three made three-pointers in 16 attempts in the January win.
102- Blocks by Concord this season, becoming just the ninth team in program history with 100 or blocks in a season.
WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 2-20
MEC Record: 1-13
Home Record: 0-9
Away Record: 1-10
Neutral Record: 1-1
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
The Bobcats are led by the backcourt duo of Deiker Padrino and Alex Mirhosseini. Padrino leads the MEC in three-point shooting (45.0 percent) and is top five in scoring (16.3). Mirhosseini chips in 12.9 points per game and has connected on 41 three-pointers. CU frustrated Padrino into a 2-for-9 shooting game earlier this season as he only scored six points, without a three-pointer. Mirhosseini poured in 16 points. Curtis Litton and Maxwell Harris added 10 points each and combined for 15 rebounds.
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